Hydraulic propeller



(No Model.) ,I

G. E. WHIPPLE.

- Hydraulic Propeller.

-No. 243,184. Paten ted June 21,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE E. WHIPPLE, OF FORT EDWARD, NEW YORK.

HYDRAULIC PROPELLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,184, dated June 21, 1881.

Application filed April 16, 1881.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GEORGE EDGAR WHIP- PLE, of Fort Edward, in the county of Washington and State of New York, have invented a new Improvement in Propelling Vessels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Figure l is a plan view of myimprovement. Fig.2 is a sectional side elevation of .the same, taken through the line 00 m, Fig. 1.

My invention relates to an improvement in that means for propelling vessels in which the water is drawn in through a longitudinal chan nel at the bow by a pump or other device and is discharged at the stern.

My invention, while acting upon this same general principle,,consists in the peculiar arrangement of a series of pipes with respect to receiving and distributing chambers and the pumping-engine, in which a steam-pump is placed in the middle of the vessel, and is connected on its opposite sides with the transverse chambers, from each of which there extends a corresponding series of horizontal pipes, which run in parallel position with each other to and open at the bow and stern of the vessel, as hereinafter described. I

A represents the body or hullof a vessel.

B are pipes leading from the bow of the vessel to a close chamber, 0, near the center of the said vessel.

D are pipes leading from the stern of the vessel to a close chamber, E, near to and corresponding with the chamber (3.

F is a double-acting steam pump or pumps, arranged to take water from one of the chambers O E and discharge it into the other chamber. When the boat is to move forward the pump F draws water from the chamberG and forces it into the chamber E. The withdrawal of water from the chamber 0 tends to form a vacuum in the said chamber 0, which causes the water to rush in through the pipes B from the bow of the boat. Forcing the water into the chamberE forces thesaid water out through the pipes D against the water at the stern of the boat, and thus drives the boat forward. At the same time the withdrawal of water from the bow of the boat tends to form a vacuum at the bow, and forcing the water out at the (No model.)

The pipesB D, any desired number of which can be used, and which may be of any desired size, are placed near the bottom of the boat, or between the keelsons, so as to be in a favorable working position and out of the way in stowing the freight. The side pipes, B D, near their outer ends, are provided with branches Gr, leading out through the sides of the boat.

H are valves placed at the intersection of the branches G with the main pipes B D, and so arranged that they can be adjusted to close the branch pipes or the main pipes, as desired. With this construction, by adjusting the valves H the water passing into one of the side pipes at the how will be drawn from the water at the side of the vessel, and the water forced out through the corresponding side pipe will be forced out against the water at the same side of the stern of the vessel, so that the vessel can be guided and turned by adjusting the said valves H.

The merit of my invention is that an exactly correspondingor symmetrical construction and arrangement is preserved on each side of the middle transverse and longitudinal lines of the boat, thereby perfectly trimming the boat; and as the same construction and arrangement of pipes D, chamber E, and connections for the pump are preserved on each side of the engine, the boat may be readily run backward or forward by simply reversing the valves of the pumps. The series of pipes D, arranged in the same horizontal plane, receive an even stratum of clean surface-water without stirring up a muddy bottom, as a single or larger volume of water would if only one or two larger channels were used. This is a feature of great merit as affecting the durability of the pumps, for if the water be gritty or muddy they soon wear out. Furthermore, the large distributing drums or chambers O and E cause the pumps to act equally upon all the pipes B and D.

1o ing series of parallel pipes B and D, arranged in a horizontal plane and opening at their in- .ner ends into their respective chambers O and E, and at the outer ends respectively into the Water at the bow and stern of the boat, substantially as and for the purpose described.

GEORGE EDGAR WHIPPLE.

WVitnesses:

W. J. CRAWFORD, J. H. UHEESMAN. 

